Plastic film bags with or without zipper like interacting male and female elements that enable the mouth to be sealed and reopened repeatedly are well known in the art. Filling the bags may be awkward because the bags are so flaccid that they must be held open. Various patents disclose elements incorporated into the bags to hold them open. These elements do not hold the open bag upright, and they are only needed during the moments when the bag is being filled, but increase the cost of every bag. It would be useful to have a hold open device that is applied to the bag only during filling, and that holds the bag open and upright despite the flaccid nature of the bag.